Iran are aiming to be
fully prepared for U23 World Championship. The team started a joint camp with
the Iran senior men’s team under coach Julio Velasco four months ago and after two
months trained under the full supervision of Peyman Akbari and his coaching
staff. The team has a number of outstanding players who have already
experienced international competitions at youth and junior levels.

Peyman Akbari coached the Peykan Club for three years before becoming
coach of Iran’s Under-23 team. He has a Master’s in Physical Education from
Tehran Azad University and is a university instructor in physical science.

As a player, he was with the Iran Junior team for two years and played
for the senior team for 14 years, including seven as captain. With Iran, he won
a gold medal in the Central Asian Championship, and a silver and bronze medal
in the Asian Championship. As a coach with Peykan, he won gold in the Iran
Super League in 2010 and at the Asian Club Championship the following year, and
was twice voted Best Coach in the Iran league. He also won gold with the Iran
Under-23 team at the Central Asian Championship.